WHEN:
Sunday, September 22, 2024
WHERE:
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Millennium Park
Chicago
A spokesperson describes the event as follows:
"...Using various areas of Millennium Park as well as a main stage performance at Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Old Town School's Global Carnival will weave together performances found in celebrations across the Black Atlantic.
Carnival season is a well-known tradition throughout the Caribbean Basin and Latin America, with famous celebrations in Brazil, New Orleans, and Trinidad. While Chicago boasts sizable populations from the regions that participate in the Carnival tradition, large-scale outdoor celebrations are often difficult in the traditional Lenten season in winter.
The celebratory feeling found in Carnival celebrations engage the healing possibilities of releasing pain, stress, frustration and creating opportunities to embrace freedom, liberatory joy, and revelatory experiences with your shared neighbors and community.
“...Ilê Aiyê, the legendary Bloco Afro from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, has been lifting up Afro Brazilian cultural heritage and fighting for social justice and equality for 50 years through dance, music, education and community organizing. Founded in 1974 by Antonio Carlos dos Santos Vovô and Apolônio de Jesus (in memorium), in opposition to the racist policies of Bahia’s carnaval, Ilê Aiyê was the first Bloco Afro (Afro Brazilian Carnaval Organization). Ilê Aiyê’s creation was inspired by the Civil Rights and Black Liberation Movements in the United States and worldwide.
“...Flagboy Giz is a musician, cultural performer, beadworker, producer, and MC from New Orleans, Louisiana. For nearly a decade, he has been a member of the historic Wild Tchoupitoulas Black Masking Indians, a tribe of culture bearers whose music was made famous in the 1970s by the legendary funk groups The Meters as well as The Neville Brothers. His music is informed and inspired by the traditions of Mardi Gras Indian music, a uniquely New Orleans heritage combining elements of West African rhythms, funk music, chanting, and other Black folk music influences. Flagboy Giz has garnered tremendous acclaim, including a profile in the New York Times and appearances at Lil Wayne’s Weezyana Fest, Red Bull Street Kings, the National Fried Chicken Festival, and many more. In 2023, he appeared at the world-renowned New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the French Quarter Festival, two festivals he revisited as a performer in 2024..."
